September

A month of sniffles and sneezes, doctor's visits and a nice outing.

The weather drastically changed, from highs in the mid-to-high 30s °C to the mid-20s °C; the nights are especially cool, which I'm really enjoying. I don't need to run the air conditioner, which helps with the electric bill.

However, the cooler weather brings its own problems; allergies are very bad. I don't know what I'm allergic to, but every year as the weather cools down, I start to sniffle and sneeze like crazy. I get rather frustrated because during the extreme heat I can't really do anything, so I look forward to the cooler weather, but then get hit by allergies. At least now I've found a good doctor, which helps!

This year I'm dealing with problems with my neck. I was so shocked by my X-rays last week. Usually, when I get X-rays or other imaging tests, I can't see what the doctor is talking about. The doctor points out anomalies on the screen, but I can't understand what they are seeing. Last week's X-rays, however, were very clear about how bad the structure of my neck is. I could see that my neck is misaligned to the right. The painkillers are helping but not fixing the problem. I'm wondering if seeing a chiropractor would help! Something I need to think about.

The highlight of the month was our trip to Yotoku Inari Shrine.

We had such a lovely day. I hope to go back when I can walk more. I want to see the red torii gates that are lined up. I didn't have confidence to walk that far the other week.

The wind chimes were so beautiful.

The Japanese Garden in the shrine.

There was a small shopping street next to the shrine.

The entrance to the shopping street

A different god from the shrine god.

Hannah stayed for a few days, which was nice. 

To end the month on a high note, Hannah got a 4.00 GPA for last semester, the highest points available. She usually got 3.5 or 3.8, so she is very happy with her result. She worked very hard last semester, and it is reflected in her grades.